Just in case you didn’t get your invite to BuzzFeed‘s traditional rebel White House Correspondents’ Dinner party this year and you’re wondering if you’re a loser or whether your email has stopped working, worry no more.
BuzzFeed isn’t having a party this year.
WTH? This is nothing to LOL about.
In 2013, BuzzFeed began offering Washingtonians and Hollywood stars the first alternative to the packed Washington Hilton and whisked guests to Jack Rose Dining Saloon, another venue stuffed to the max with people in gowns, tuxes and jeans. For some, the BBQ-themed party was considered to be a much cooler choice than the dinner, although no less crowded — it was described as something of a sweat pit — an “uncomfortable level of fullness…sweating like Newt Gingrich at a Zumba class.” And while easier to get into than the dinner, BuzzFeed was never a sure ticket with strict list keepers — ahem, the formidable Ashley McCollum — and bouncers at the door.
Last year they spiced things up a little by joining forces with Facebook for a “Bowties & Burgers” soirée. They had trolleys transporting guests from the Hilton to the Adams Morgan neighborhood bar just down the street. Come on, women in heels can’t be expected to walk more than a block. The year before, they had pedicabs.
But after just two years, BuzzFeed is saying no to a party.
And so far, they’re not saying why.
An email to a BuzzFeed publicist went unreturned. Word around town is extremely vague about why the party has been nixed this year.
A little history….in 2013, then-WHCD President Ed Henry turned down BuzzFeed‘s request for tables at the dinner. Which is why they began having the rebel party in the first place. Was it personal? It’s hard to say, but the now deceased Michael Hastings sure didn’t have anything nice to say about Henry in his book.
But another story reasons that BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith was the actual reason why the news outlet couldn’t secure tables. He appeared in a House of Cards spoof video saying that “a colonoscopy would be cooler than that dinner.”
WHCD organizers apparently require a little more sucking up than that.
UPDATE: A BuzzFeed publicist tells The Mirror that they’ve “swapped the rager for a small dinner Friday night.” Word has it the party had gotten too predictable. The dinner will be the politics team with a mix of sources and guests.